Luke is a seven year old boy who absolutely loves baseball, especially the Cardinals.  When that bright red Cardinal jacket catches his eye, he sets his mind to saving the money he earned from cotton picking.  However, Luke does not keep his eyes set on one thing for a long period of time.  His mind quickly changes from the jacket to a bigger task, such as painting the house.

Though Luke’s mind changes easily about something, he always remained set on his dream of baseball and leaving the farm. His hours of dedication to playing the game definitely showed him how hard work can pay off.  When bored, Luke would toss fly balls to himself just so he could improve on his athletic ability.  Also he would get the hands together and his family to play the game he loves so much.

One trait Luke possesses that is harmful to others and himself, is the ability to keep secrets.  He is still too young to realize what secrets are meant to be kept and others that need to be told.  Anything that is relative to a situation of life or death must be told, no matter what the circumstances might be.  Though, he was threatened by Cowboy after witnessing the gruesome murder of Hank, Luke should have spoken up once Cowboy and Tally ran off together.  Luke slowly realizes throughout the book, and begins to learn the “power” of his voice.  He started off small, by telling the little secrets to his mom, such as spying on Tally.  Once the truth came out about this insignificant event, Luke felt compelled to tell the rest.  He mustered up enough courage to tell the truth about Hank’s murder.  Through Luke, the reader learned an important lesson over the power of truth.